Billionaire former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer is launching another populist campaign, intensifying predictions that the San Francisco environmentalist is prepping a 2018 run for governor.

This time, Steyer is in search of solutions to California’s widening income gap. On Wednesday in Oakland, he will introduce the Fair Shake Commission on Income Inequality and Middle Class Opportunity. With an all-star lineup of left-leaning academics, labor leaders and former high-ranking Democratic politicians, the commission intends to map the geography of the wealth gap in California — and then do something about it.

The debut of the commission comes days after Steyer opened a crusade against high gas prices in California, pledging, if necessary, to take on oil companies at the ballot box.

Asked pointedly Tuesday whether these two populist efforts were a preview to him running for governor, Steyer said, “No.”

“We are in a very good position in the next couple of years to look at these overwhelming problems facing us and come up with solutions,” Steyer said. “It’s a luxury to come up with this. Getting a result is its own reward. This is not me being tricky and manipulative.”

Documents abound

There is no shortage of documentation of the nation’s wealth gap, from French economist Thomas Piketty’s 2013 best-seller “Capital in the 21st Century” to specialized departments and high-level scholars boring into the problem at UC Berkeley and USC (which is working with the Fair Shake Commision). The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank where Steyer is a board member, has done reports on the national scope of the issue. Even billionaire conservative Charles Koch worried this month that the country is devolving into a “two-tiered” system that is “destroying opportunities for the disadvantaged and creating welfare for the rich.”

But Steyer is adamant that the Fair Shake group won’t just generate a bunch of policy papers that go unheeded.

Instead the Fair Shake Commission intends to concoct policies by January that can be pitched to the Legislature, turned into ballot measures or be presented as regional solutions — backed by the billionaire’s wallet.

“This isn’t about the scope of the problem,” Steyer told The Chronicle Tuesday. “This is about coming up with practical solutions.”

UC Berkeley professor of political science and public policy Henry Brady said that while there is ample documentation of the scale of income inequality, “What we do need to know is what policy programs make sense. We need to tailor the proposals that are out there nationally to what’s going on in California, which is very different. This (Steyer’s proposal) could be helpful.”

Political motives?

The timing of the announcement has raised questions about Steyer’s motives. Coming just days after Steyer called on the Legislature to fix a convoluted oil market that forces California drivers to pay $1 more for a gallon of regular than elsewhere in the U.S., political insiders speculate that Steyer may hope to turn populism into political capital.

“Coupled with the gas-prices move, this is a clear sign that Steyer is running for governor in 2018,” said Republican political consultant Kevin Spillane.

“He’s trying to broaden his resume and credentials by moving beyond environmentalism,” Spillane said. “Everybody in California supports environmentalism, but it’s the bread-and-butter issues — like the economy — that motivate voters and get you elected.”

Plus, Spillane said, by fronting a campaign about income inequality, Steyer is “trying to create a connection with the average California voter and minimize his own personal wealth that he’s accumulated by being a financial maestro of Wall Street. He doesn’t want to be seen as just another rich guy running for governor of California.”

Brady said, “This is about Bernie Sanders,” referring to the populist stances of the Democratic presidential candidate who is drawing large crowds nationally. “If you’re somebody who wants to think about a political future, you have to talk about income inequality. And I think Steyer is a guy who cares about issues.”

In the 2014 election cycle, NextGen Climate — Steyer’s political action committee — had mixed results in the national races where it played. The PAC spent $74 million, and Steyer-backed candidates won one of three gubernatorial races and two of the four Senate contests where it invested heavily.

Tom Steyer opened a crusade against high gas prices in California, pledging,
if necessary, to take on oil companies at the ballot box.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

As for how much he’s willing to spend on the income inequality effort in California, Steyer said Tuesday, “We have absolutely no idea.” Before he comes up with a cost estimate, Steyer said, the commission needs to come up with a road map for what it wants to accomplish.

Joe Garofoli is the San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer, covering national and state politics. He has worked at The Chronicle since 2000 and in Bay Area journalism since 1992, when he left the Milwaukee Journal. He is the host of “It’s All Political,” The Chronicle’s political podcast. Catch it here: bit.ly/2LSAUjA

He has won numerous awards and covered everything from fashion to the Jeffrey Dahmer serial killings to two Olympic Games to his own vasectomy — which he discussed on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” after being told he couldn’t say the word “balls” on the air. He regularly appears on Bay Area radio and TV talking politics and is available to entertain at bar mitzvahs and First Communions. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and a proud native of Pittsburgh. Go Steelers!